Expert: David Silver - 6/21/2007

Question
David,

I have recently purchased a Kemco Homovie and am eager to know  if I've made a wise choice. I've tried researching the camera to the best of my ability, but have found little to no information about it.

The one I own has some wear on the handle, but otherwise looks brand new. I don't know much about antique cameras, as I've just recently begun my collection. I plan on taking it to a repair shop to be sure it is still functional, but I wanted to know a bit more about it before I let someone start tinkering with it.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Christy

Answer


Hello Christy,

Congratulations!  You nailed a rare one!

The Kemco Homovie system was introduced by the Kodel Electrical & Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati around 1930.  It's unique in that it takes standard 16mm film, but uses a crazy mechanical film transport device that makes four exposures in the same sapce as one regular 16mm exposure.  It moves the film through the camera in a "boustrophedonic" pattern, two frames left to right, then drop down for two frames right to left, and then jump to the next space.  Crazy, but it worked!  The result is that you can film four times as much on a single roll of film.  The industry standard for 16mm was the 100 foot roll, so with the Kemco Homovie you got the equivalent of 400 feet instead.  Of course, the individual exposures were tiny, only 3 1/2 x 4 3/4 mm each, but it worked nonetheless.

The system is not complete without the dedicated projector, otherwise there was no way to work the film by conventional projection, but the camera is the major portion of the collectible value here, so don't worry.

I do NOT recommend you let ANYBODY handle the camera!  Even if it does not function any longer, the mechanism is so unusual that a common repair shop would probably only make it worse!  Look it over yourself, poke and probe inside as long as you resist the urge to dismantle anything, and you might find it is only in need of a little lubrication here and there.  Empasis on little!  Rather than repair, you want to clean.  Movie cameras tend to get very dirty inside.  But, working or not, you've found a treasure.

Now, the best news, a truly excellent example of this most unusual amateur movie camera would probably sell in the $2000 range today.

Nice find!  Have fun with it.  If you can, I'd like to have a couple small JPEG images sent to <silver@well.com> so I can have them on file.  I haven't seen a Kemco Homovie in many years, and neglected to take pictures of one when I had the chance.  Thanks!

Best wishes,

David Silver